The Search for the Newcomers, December 2012 Edition.

[stringmods]

Who: Open to Everyone, but only Newly Accepted Characters can start threads.
Where: All around the city! They appear where you want them to appear.
Summary: Newcomers arrive and by now the Government is more ready and sends everyone out to go people hunting.
Warnings: ARRIVALS. Also assume the first thread is the ones who tell you about the city, and the other tags for the character can be talking with others in the city and learning more about it.

[FOR THOSE IN THE CITY:]
They were getting much better at this, it was for certain.

Last month's initial testing of the HORUS system had worked really well. The device which allowed everyone to spot abnormalities; and now even more refined, they could hone in on newcomers at a much faster pace. The leftover energy from the travel (commonly called Magatama Residue) gave them a few minutes to find them before it would flicker out.

Combined with the fact they could appear in most parts of the city, it made finding the newcomers was both easy yet frustratingly difficult.

As the blips appear on your own radar function, it was also nice enough to calculate for you the best transport and destination routes to take to get there. Speed was of the essence, after all.

[FOR THOSE WHO JUST ARRIVED:]
You're not in your homeworld anymore. That much is evident. So how do you feel? Happy? Sad? Troubled? A little of all three? No matter what, the memories of a butterfly man named Philemon are fading like a dream; you'll remember the details, but perhaps not everything he has said.

There is one word that stays with you, however.

Persona.

So...here to save the city, huh? First you'll need to find out more information. And who knows, maybe a familiar face or two...

[OOC: As stated above, only new characters can start a thread, but feel free to jump in any of them. characters arrive with their clothing and whatever items they had on them the moment they were taken; the remaining items will be later found in their apartments.]

Comments

[sageprincess]

She lets out something of a frustrated sigh. If people are to come and go at random, then finding a 'return home' condition would be next to impossible.

"I do not suppose anyone has found a way to contact him?"

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

He shakes his head. "People have tried, but they've had a better time finding information on this city's past than they have with contacting him."

[sageprincess]

"As I thought." It would just be too easy otherwise, wouldn't it. "What of this city, then? How do things work here, and why does it need protecting?"

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"There are a lot of demons that walk around here at night. The people of the city can't protect themselves from it. And... and there's not much of anything outside the city walls. The world's kind of been destroyed."

[sageprincess]

Okay, that gets a rather surprised and confused look.

"So... we are to protect the native population from these 'demons'? And, presumably, whatever destroyed the rest of the world?"

Even as she says it, it sounds ridiculous to her - one city saved and the rest of a world gone? - but everything else she's seen and heard today has been ridiculous, so...

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Something like that. I mean, you don't have to do anything at all if you don't want. The guy said we had a choice, right? Help the world or not. Me? I'd rather help. I'm an angel. That's what we do."

[sageprincess]

"Of course I wish to keep innocents away from unnecessary harm, but... my responsibility lies with my country."

Hyrule had seen better days when she left it, and with her stuck here, there is yet another power vacuum where there shouldn't be.

She purses her lips. "Besides, I may possess magic, but I am not a warrior in the truest sense."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Not to be rude, ma'am, but a lot of us have responsibilities back at home. Like me. It's my duty to protect the humans in my world from those who want to bring them harm. That doesn't mean I can't do what I can to help out here. If you ask around, you'll find there's plenty of other people in the same boat."

[sageprincess]

For a brief moment, there is a flash of irritation across her features. Is that supposed to make her feel better, she wants to ask. Just because there are others with responsibilities to their homes trapped here, she is supposed to be... okay with the idea that yet another tyrant could waltz in and make her country a living hell once again in her absence?

But she doesn't. She subtly grits her teeth, lets out a frustrated sigh, and does not let her emotions get the better of her.

"In any case, I would not know where to begin in 'helping' the people here. I do not yet even know my way around."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

Pit doesn't skip a beat: "If you're worried about what might happen in your world, don't be. I think time's stopped there while you're here. When you go back home, you'll be right back where you left off."

He can tell when someone's trying to change the subject.

[sageprincess]

"Can you be certain of that?" she asks, worry evident in her voice. The risk is just... too great to ask for anything but absolute certainty.

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"I think a lot more people would be fighting to get out of here if that wasn't the case."

[sageprincess]

She looks down.

"... Forgive me, but my worries shall not cease based on inferences. The status of my land is simply too dire."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"I understand."

He's not being dismissive.

He may not be able to to really understand what she's going through--to him, Hyrule is nothing more than a setting in a video game, and also sometimes fighting competitions--but he understands what it is to worry. If he had come here when Lady Palutena was still in danger, he probably would have felt the same way.

[sageprincess]

A moment of silence passes then, as Zelda quietly wrestles with her emotions. She shouldn't be angry or upset with this boy, she knows - it's not his fault they're stuck here, after all.

When she thinks her feelings are once again in check, she looks back up.

"Is... there anything else I should know about this place?"

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Um..."

Pit folds his hand underneath his chin, thinking.

"Well, there's this thing called a COMP that's attached to your ear. See?" Pit taps one of his own ears, summoning a pair of glasses. "You can use this to do all sorts of things, like talk to people no matter where they are!"

[sageprincess]

... Okay, that... is not as weird as everything else, admittedly, but it's definitely strange to her medieval-stasis view of things.

"... How?" Wait, no, let's be more specific. "Does it work, I mean. It is strange, but being able to talk to people t distance does seem useful."

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"...magic, I guess."

[sageprincess]

... Fair enough.

"And... is it something everyone who is brought here has? Or must I bargain with someone to obtain one?"

[gforceinmyfaaaace]

"Nope. Everyone who's a guest here already has one. Try it out! You don't have to tap your ear like I did; it'll come out even if you think about using it."